Induction motors are a type of electric motor that may include a stator and a rotor. The stator is a stationary part of the motor that may be in the form of a hollow cylinder having a number of electrical windings located around an inside diameter of the hollow cylinder. The rotor is a part of the motor that rotates and may be in the form of a cylinder having a central bore. The rotor may be mounted on a shaft that is received through the central bore. The shaft may be connected to a load, which is to be driven by the motor. The rotor may include a number of a conductor bars (made, e.g., of copper or aluminum) extending through the cylinder and having their lengths oriented generally parallel to the shaft. The rotor fits inside the stator such that a small air gap separates the rotor from the stator. When an AC current is applied to the stator's windings, a rotating magnetic field is generated. The rotating magnetic field causes a current to flow in the conductor bars, which in turn magnetizes the rotor, generating a magnetic field around and through the rotor. Based on the magnetic properties of attraction and repulsion, the rotor's magnetic field follows the stator's rotating magnetic field. The rotating magnetic fields cause the rotor and shaft to rotate within the stator, which in turn, drives the connected load.
The ability of the rotor to magnetize and generate a magnetic field may be determined by the rotor's magnetic permeability. The higher the permeability, the more easily the rotor may magnetize and generate its own magnetic field, which drives the rotation of the rotor within the stator. Accordingly, a need exists to improve the magnetization of the rotor so as to improve motor performance.